Source: https://graphics.stanford.edu/data/3Dscanrep/
Retrieved: 2026-10-03

Please acknowledge...
Please be sure to acknowledge the source of the data and models you take from
this repository.  In each of the listings below, we have cited the source of
the range data and reconstructed models.  You are welcome to use the data and
models for research purposes.  You are also welcome to mirror or redistribute
them for free.  Finally, you may publish images made using these models, or the
images on this web site, in a scholarly article or book - as long as credit is
given to the Stanford Computer Graphics Laboratory.  However, such models or
images are not to be used for commercial purposes, nor should they appear in a
product for sale (with the exception of scholarly journals or books), without
our permission.
Inappropriate uses of these models
As you browse this repository and think about how you might use our 3D models
and range datasets, please remember that several of these artifacts have
religious or cultural significance.  Aside from the buddha, which is a
religious symbol revered by hundreds of millions of people, the dragon is a
symbol of Chinese culture, the Thai statue contains elements of religious
significance to Hindus, and Lucy is a Christian angel; statues like her are
commonly seen in Italian churches.  Keep your renderings and other uses of
these particular models in good taste.  Don't animate or morph them, don't
apply Boolean operators to them, and don't simulate nasty things happening to
them (like breaking, exploding, melting, etc.).  Choose another model for these
sorts of experiments.  (You can do anything you want to the Stanford bunny or
the armadillo.)
A further caveat on the use of raw triangulation range data
Continuing in the vein of our first
caveat above, if you decide to use our raw range data, we still caution
against treating the data as unorganized.  To understand why, let us consider
the operation of a swept-stripe scanner.  As the stripe sweeps across an
object, it outputs a grid of X,Y positions.  This grid is explicit in the PLY
files of this archive and implicit in the SD files of the Digital Michelangelo
Project archive.  The decision to assign a depth to a position on the grid,
i.e. to create a valid range point, depends on a number of criteria, including
the strength and shape of the laser reflection sensed by the camera for that
region of the surface.  Regions that are only grazed by the laser return weak
reflections, causing those grid positions to be left unassigned, creating a
hole in the range data.  (This is only one cause of holes; other causes include
occlusions and low albedo.)  This means that if a range point is present, the
orientation of the surface in that region is partly constrained.  This is
potentially useful information to a surface reconstruction algorithm.  The
lines of sight from valid range points to the laser can be derived from
geometric information we've included in the SD files of Digital Michelangelo
Project archive.
Moreover, the width of the stripe in a swept-stripe laser scanner is typically
equal to the X,Y-resolution of the grid.  This, taken together with the
decision process described above, effectively means that only surface regions
that are smooth at the scale of the grid can be successfully sensed.
Specifically, if two adjacent X,Y grid locations are filled, then the Z-depth
difference between them is unlikely to be much greater than the X,Y resolution
of the grid, and this adjacency can be taken as strong evidence that a smooth
surface connects the two positions, at least smooth at the scale of the grid.
Summarizing, even surface reconstruction algorithms that operate on raw data
should consider retaining the connectivity of the range grid; otherwise, they
are potentially ignoring useful information.  Note that this argument may not
apply to time-of-flight range data, where the laser spots are generally much
smaller than the spacing between sample positions.  Algorithms that operate on
unorganized points may be more applicable there.  However, our archive does not
currently contain this kind of data.
Finally, we note that the lines of sight from valid range points to the laser
and camera provide useful information about regions of space away from the
object surface.  (The lines of sight to the camera can also be derived from the
information in our SD files.)  In particular, if a X,Y position contains a
valid range point, then the lines of sight from that point to the laser and
camera must be unoccluded, again subject to the scale of the grid.  We use this
information in our volumetric reconstruction and
hole filling algorithms; you might find it
useful too.
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